# Discarding unrecognized token X from value of attribute “role”. Browsers ignore any token that is not a defined ARIA non-abstract role.

> Canonical HTML version: https://rocketvalidator.com/html-validation/discarding-unrecognized-token-x-from-value-of-attribute-role-browsers-ignore-any-token-that-is-not-a-defined-aria-non-abstract-role
> Attribution: Rocket Validator (https://rocketvalidator.com)
> License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The `role` attribute contains a token that does not name a defined, non-abstract ARIA role.

A `role` value can contain a list of tokens separated by spaces. Browsers read the list from left to right and use the first recognized, non-abstract role. They ignore unknown tokens such as `initial`. Although `initial` is a CSS keyword, it does not reset an ARIA role.

Remove the unrecognized token and keep the role that describes the element's purpose. In this example, `status` identifies a message that assistive technologies can announce when it changes. Removing `initial` preserves that role. If a native HTML element already provides the intended semantics, use it without an unnecessary `role` attribute.

## Invalid example

```html
<div role="initial status">Application received.</div>
```

## Valid example

```html
<div role="status">Application received.</div>
```